When You Taught Me How to Dance
by UberNerd121
Summary: Nos continues to struggle with his feelings for Two when she asks him to dance.


Docking on Trade World always made Two nervous. It must have been something to do with being around so many people ‒ she hated having to keep up the act, but they couldn't afford to drop their guards for a moment. When Nos-4-a2 wasn't keeping her with him, pretending to show her off like a trophy prisoner, she had to stay locked in her cell for safe keeping.

It always made Two restless. The room was small, sparsely furbished, and had no windows. A metal shelf ran along the back wall, serving as a bed or a bench (whichever was required), only padded by pillows tattered enough to make it seem like Nos-4-a2 didn't care. A small compartment underneath the bench hid a few things to keep her entertained while Nos-4-a2 was gone: some books, a dish of dirt filled with tiny green sprouts, and a spray bottle full of water. As she had read each book more times than she cared to count and the seedlings didn't need tending, Two was at a loss.

She could talk to Quinn or sleep, but... Nos-4-a2 had been away for longer than ever before. As much as she tried to tell herself that he knew what he was doing, he had survived for years before they met, he said he might take a while this time, she couldn't shake her concern.

Being trapped in a tiny room with nothing to do definitely didn't help. The longer she sat with her thoughts, the more convinced she became that he'd been caught or injured or... worse. It wasn't until she had worked up the nerve to ask Quinn whether they'd let her out to search for Nos when she heard a heavy, muffled scraping ‒ _the door._ Two felt so relieved, she couldn't stop herself from pressing against the bars of her cell door. She could hardly refrain from calling out, but she controlled herself incase he wasn't alone.

She didn't have to worry for long. Mere seconds after the hatch closed, Nos-4-a2 barreled into the short corridor that held her cell. He had abandoned any semblance of his villain act, his optics glowing, a fanged grin plastered across his face, standing bolt straight only out of excitement. Such an uncharacteristic appearance of her captor made Two immediately suspicious.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing, we're all clear! Well, I mean... Quinn, can you take us away?"

"Gladly, sir."

The craft around them stirred to life, rumbling almost imperceptibly.

"Now we're really clear! Here, come on," Nos swiped a panel outside her door that disengaged the lock. Two watched him with a mix of skepticism and amusement, deciding it was safe enough to follow him into the ship's main chamber. The close walls of the ship were made of sleek, dark metal in cool colors, accented by red trim and lit by a diffused, indirect light source. The main chamber held a long, black table surrounded by tall-backed chairs, a window along the side of the room revealing the rapidly shrinking surface of Trade World.

"Okay, now, before I show you what I picked up, I must say that I find your concern for me _exceedingly_ amusing," the Energy Vampire sneered.

Two blinked, still not quite over her surprise, and drew her eyeforms together. "What are you talking about?"

"No use pretending," Nos adopted a honeyed tone, "I could have felt your needling thoughts a mile away. _Was ickle Evie worried about me?_ "

"Oh, shut up!" Two had to try very hard to smother her smile, "And that voice isn't nearly as charming as you might think."

"Nope, I can feel you masking your emotions, now I know you must be lying."

"Guh, I wish something _had_ happened to you out there!"

Two tore her eyeforms away from his snarky smile to watch the world outside, a blur of smog and lights, the stars above struggling into view as the ship made its way through the thick atmosphere.

"What did you find, anyway? I thought you were just stocking up on power cells."

At this, Nos produced a parcel from a pocket within his cloak, setting it down on the table. "I might have hacked a local hardware trade post so that they'd order a little something extra from Earth."

Two cocked her eyeform until he gestured for her to open it. It was long, small enough to fit in her hands, the cardboard rough and worn from its undoubtedly long journey. Two tore it open with ease to reveal a small appliance. It had white casing with gaps in the sides that showed a blue interior pulsing with light. The base was like a thick, black suction cup. Two ran her fingers over the piece of Buy n' Large tech with wide eyeforms, cradling it delicately and drinking in every detail. Everything seemed to become still and quiet, her surroundings falling away from the artifact in her hands.

"...Well?" Nos-4-a2 prompted. Two looked up to meet expectant, scarlet optics. He looked different somehow, and she found herself taking in every detail of his face: the magenta accents on his forehead, the golden ring around his fixed optic, the powder blue metal of his face, the jagged design on his chin, the way the light glanced off his features, and... his smile.

"Nos-4-a2, how...? What? W-why ‒ "

"You told me you could play piano," Nos said it as simply as if that fact explained everything. Judging by the squint in Two's eyeforms, it didn't. "Don't you remember? We were doing some research when you were trying to get me into _hobbies_ ," he made a face as if the word tasted bad, "and you started talking about how you play music!"

"Yeah, you teased me mercilessly."

"Precisely. Don't expect that to stop. I still find it hard to believe that you can play something like a piano with your stubby little fingers, and this," Nos plucked the device from Two's grasp, "will finally show us how."

"Y-you found this so you could see me play piano?" Two stammered.

Nos-4-a2 laughed, a sound that had evolved into something real and contagious in the time Two had known him. "Well, not _only_ for that, but yes, I would very much like to see you play. This can show us your memories, can't it? With sound and video and all?"

"I... yes, that's what it's for. I still can't believe you found one!" Two laughed, shaking her head.

"Well, like I said, it was no mistake. It sure took a while to get here. Let's see if it was worth the wait."

Two, privately feeling that waiting might help her process all that was happening, didn't flinch as Nos-4-a2 stuck the end of the memory stick to her head. Just like that, an involuntary warble left her speakers and a holographic screen projected out across Nos. He skirted out of the way, standing next to her so he could watch it properly, leaning back against the table.

It started at the beginning. The video played from Two's perspective, the screen bordered like the shape of her visor. She felt something powerful wrench at her processors to see the interior of the _Axiom_. The sleek room that stored the EVE Probes between their missions to Earth had a faint green glow, the lights changed in recognition of the return to their home planet. In the memory, Two looked to her left to see three identical probes slowly blinking and swiveling their heads around, all as blank and unknowing as she had been at the time. Present-day Two felt something like a hydraulic sucker punch to her stasis chamber.

Almost reflexively, she overrode the memory device's automatic montage setting and narrowed all the playback options to clips containing the piano. If Nos noticed anything, he didn't say so. Two flicked through a few memories of practicing until she landed on her first "recital."

She had been alone in the Henrys' living room, hovering in front of their baby grand. Everything looked so familiar: the striped wallpaper, the framed photographs, the book case that held everything from sheet music to knickknacks to little potted plants. The Henrys were the family of humans that Two lived with in the years before the war, farmers who paid her to scan and help tend their crops. The eldest Henry daughter, Jillian, liked to play the piano for Two whenever she could, seeing as it was one of the only things that ever brought Two out of her shell during the awkward time when her personality and emotions were developing. Eventually, Two caught on to the basics of playing and reading music, and with Jillian's help, she started to learn and practice on her own.

This memory was the first time Two had ever felt comfortable enough to play full songs end on end, mostly because nobody else was home. She almost felt self conscious watching it with Nos now, but he knew so little about music that she didn't think he'd judge her. In the recording, her fingers set themselves against the keys and started a slow, quiet chord, the beginning of a Satie piece ‒ she played a lot of his work when she first started, as his simple melodies were easy to take on with only eight fingers. It wasn't bad. Her tempo was steady, and though she lacked dynamics, she managed to hit all of the right notes, and they could hardly hear the clicking of her rigid fingers against the keys.

"Well, I suppose you weren't kidding after all," Nos-4-a2 hummed. Two swelled a bit ‒ he sounded genuinely impressed.

"I know! What do you think of the piece?"

"...I don't know, what do you mean?"

"Does it make you feel anything? Like calm? Peaceful? Melancholy?"

"Er... no, I can't say that it does. Just sounds like notes to me. Don't get me wrong, they're well played notes, but I'm not sure I'm wired to be a music lover."

"We're not even half way through the first song!"

"I know, I know. Honestly, I think the way your fingers move is fascinating, maybe even more compelling than the music. I didn't know they could stretch that far."

Two beamed. "Yeah, I rarely ever have to extend them so much, but I'm lucky that I can! Otherwise most pieces worth playing would be practically impossible. Oh, shh, this part is really good..."

A phrase built up, following a ritardando until it resolved into a chord, sending chills through Two's wires. She remembered a deep sense of satisfaction the first time she'd played that right ‒ she still felt proud.

"Very nice," Nos hummed.

"Stop saying that like you're so surprised."

He laughed again as the song began to wind down. "Can't you take a compliment?"

Two didn't let it show in her posture, but she felt a glow in her processors. She started to browse her memories for something better to show him, not so simple or early in her life. She found one right as the song came to an end, but as soon as she remembered the title, an idea came to mind that made her tingle with static. She made sure the whole memory had downloaded to the stick before removing it from her head.

"What are you doing?"

Two only smiled in response, placing the device so it stood up on the table. The screen remained upright, now showing a slightly different scene: it was still the piano in the Henrys' living room, but it was a different time of day, and things had shifted around. There were more pictures on the walls. A few years had passed, and Two was in a room full of people.

" _Arthur, what would you like me to play? It's your turn to pick,_ " Two spoke from the recording.

" _Can you play 'When You Taught Me How to Dance?'_ " a man holding a young child on his shoulders suggested.

" _Really? I could use some more practice on that one..._ "

" _No, come on, I overheard you play through the whole thing flawlessly when you were practicing just yesterday!_ "

" _You could stand to have your ears cleaned out!_ " the room laughed, " _But if that's what you want, I guess I can give it a try._ "

" _Thanks, Two._ "

As soon as the song started, present-day Two stole her nerves, turned to Nos, and offered him her hand. He looked at her blankly while her fingers deftly worked the keys on the projection.

"Dance with me?" she asked.

Nos-4-a2 looked like she'd asked him to start playing his own recital. "I don't know how."

"It's not hard, I'll show you. Put out your hands," Two directed. She half expected him to say no, but to both of their surprise, he did as she said. Two had to hover higher so their heads were level. She had never seen him look this way before ‒ was he nervous? It almost made her feel more confident, surrounded by the sound of the song's sweet melody.

"See, you hold my right hand... no, the other one, genius. And then you put this hand on my shoulder."

Even though she was the one guiding it into place, something warm seemed to travel through her wires at the feeling of his talons against her metal. His palms were textured, covered by a flexible material stretched over inner mechanics to give his hands fluid motion. Nos-4-a2 thought the curve of her metal fit all too well into his hand. He made a private note to have Quinn take her measurements so he could order her some cloaks ‒ maybe he would feel more comfortable if she weren't completely exposed all the time.

Two put her left hand on his waist, her fingers right between the golden wires rising out of his red alloy, and led him away from the table so they had a bit more room. The stars outside the window shone brightly now, Trade World's horizon becoming more curved by the second. "Okay, listen to the music. Can you feel how it has a little more weight on every third note?"

"I suppose."

"Come on, it's not rocket science! Just follow me. All you have to do is sway in time; it's called a waltz," Two explained.

"I'll take your word for it," the Energy Vampire muttered as Two began to move. He mirrored the simple motion, listening carefully, doing his best to keep time and match the way she dipped with each measure, almost as if she were taking steps. He yielded to the pressure she put on his hand so they began to revolve around one another.

He put his mind off how comfortable it felt to have her so close. Though he tried to smile benignly, watch the recording, and look out the window, his optics seemed irresistibly drawn to her eyeforms. It was surprisingly easy to move with her, and his stiffness melted more with every beat. He really began to feel the rhythm. The tall robot noticed his face reflected in her visor ‒ was it somehow distorted in the curve of her face, or did he really look that happy? He could pretend that it was his imagination until Two started to let her guard down, giving him access to her emotional wavelength. His power core lurched.

Forcing his mind to go blank, Nos-4-a2 focused on their movements and the music, dulling his sensors so he wouldn't notice the unmistakable new wavelength radiating from Two's core. The rest of the song seemed to go by in a blur of stars, ivory white metal, and the hypnotic blue of her LED optics. She guided his tempo as the song slowed in its last few bars. The silence after the final chord seemed to press in on their audio receptors, even the recording had frozen to a still frame. They didn't move away from one another.

"Nos-4-a2, I... thank you. It's crazy to think... all those years ago, when I played that song, I had no idea what was coming. Everything that's happened since then seems insane, and as awful as most of it's been," Two paused. Nos wanted her to say something snide, crack a joke, anything but ‒ "I'm really glad it's all led up to me dancing with you."

He pried himself away from her, watching her arms fall limp to her sides. "Yes, well... me too. Now, I should man the controls for a while. It can be a bit tricky to stay hidden while we leave the atmosphere, you know? Just ‒ have to be careful."

"Oh... okay."

"I'll be in the cockpit, so... you know where to find me."

Nos-4-a2 practically stumbled out of the main chamber. Two stood, suddenly very alone, and thought about using her new memory projector to replay their dance.

Nos collapsed into the swivel chair at the ship's control panel, his face buried in his hands.

"Master Nos-4-a2?" Quinn's smooth voice inquired.

"What is it?"

"You're quite smitten."

" _Shut the hell up._ "


End file.
